Agricultural growers, gardeners, landscape operators, flower growers, and the like produce a wide variety of cultivated crops. Many such crops are grown from seed. The sizes, shapes, and physical characteristics of the various kinds of seeds are as varied as the number of crops produced therefrom.
Producers of such cultivated crops encounter a variety of challenges in handling and distributing such seed, as well as with sowing of such seed in suitable growing media. Certain seed may desirably be sowed by a broadcast method if the seed were compatible with broadcast application. For example, grass seed for lawns is desirably broadcast, but the low density and generally non-aerodynamic shape of some grass seed can limit the range of such broadcast, and make such seed susceptible to being blown about by wind, or washed away by surface water, even if initially well placed in a good seeding application.
Another difficulty encountered in sowing seed is that the seed may be so small as to be difficult to handle, thereby to place properly-spaced seeds at a desired spacing as to make cost-effective use of the seed, thereby to produce a crop of the related plants without using any more seed than necessary, thus to gain maximum benefit from the amount of seed used.
While small seed may be efficiently handled by industrial equipment especially designed for handling such seed, typically the user of such seed also handles various other types of seed; and may be unable to justify the cost of such specialty seed-handling equipment. Rather, the seed user typically has a limited range of seed handling equipment which must be capable of being used and/or adapted to handle and apply all the types of seeds being used by that user. Where the seed itself can be adapted to the equipment, specialty seed can be handled without need for any specialized equipment.
Even where the seed may be sown by hand, such as in seedling or bedding trays or pots, some seeds are so small as to be difficult for the sower/user to effectively manipulate and control by hand. Typical of such difficult-to-handle seeds are seeds of lettuce, carrots, the cabbage family, ground cherries, and alfalfa. Many flower seeds are equally small and/or difficult to handle and/or manipulate, for example poppy seed.
When seed is planted, the seed has immediate use for moisture to aid in germination of the seed, and subsequent early development of the resulting young plant. Where moisture is not readily available to the seed when planted, the seed may lie in a dormant state for some period of time before germinating. While the seed is thus dormant, awaiting suitable moisture, the seed is subject to a variety of hazards which may destroy its viability. The seed may be attacked by worms, parasites, and other pests. The seed may be eaten by foraging animals including insects and larvae. The seed may be overheated by a hot sun. The seed may lie dormant without germinating for so long that any plant emerging therefrom will have insufficient time to mature before the end of the growing season.
If and when the seed does germinate, the seedling plant has a continuing need for a proper balance of moisture and oxygen, as well as for such plant nutrients as nitrogen, phosphorous, and potash, as well as the micronutrients, in relatively predictable quantities. To the extent the proper balance of such materials is available to the young plant, a healthy young plant may be produced, with optimum potential for maximum crop production, assuming germination occurs at a seasonably-desirable time.
To the extent one or more such materials is not available to the seed and/or the young plant, plant growth, plant health, and ultimately maturity, may be adversely affected. For example, the soil may be too dry to support germination, or optimum germination. Or while the soil may in general have a desired moisture content, moisture content at a macro level can vary widely. Thus, while the soil in general may have a desirable moisture content, the microcosm of the soil adjacent an individual seed may be too dry, or too wet, to support any germination, or optimum germination.
Similarly, the soil may be generally depleted of one or more plant nutrients needed by the germinated seedling. Or while the soil may in general have desired nutrient levels, the nutrient levels at a macro level can vary widely. Thus, the microcosm of the soil adjacent an individual seed may be too low in one or more nutrients to support a desired level of plant growth, or so high as to be toxic to a desired level of plant growth.
Further, plant nutrient chemicals may be present in the soil, but so tied up chemically in the soil as to be unavailable, or poorly available, relative to the quantities and use rates needed for desired plant growth. Or the soil may become so hard, dry, and/or caked shortly after the seed germinates that the seedling plant has difficulty penetrating such soil, difficulty becoming associated suitable nutrients, and/or difficulty taking up such nutrients because of insufficient moisture availability.
After the plant has further developed such that the plant roots extend deeper into the soil, conditions of the soil near the surface are less critical. However, until such time as the roots so penetrate, conditions of the soil at and near the top surface of the soil may be critical.
Soil fertility generally relates to uptake of plant nutrients from the soil by plants. Uptake is generally the result of two factors, the presence of plant nutrients in the soil, and the availability of the plant nutrients for plant uptake. Presence of plant nutrients in the soil is generally a function of the combination of (a) the basic level of soil fertility, (b) depletion by previous crop production and (c) replenishment with fertilizer. Availability of a plant nutrient physically present in the soil for plant uptake is in general related to solubility of the respective nutrient or nutrient combination in a solvent for the nutrient, which solvent is present in the soil, such solvent as water, along with any other material affecting solvation of the plant nutrient into the water or other solvent.
Plant nutrients are routinely depleted from the soil by crop production, and are routinely added back, or otherwise replenished, to the soil by conventional inorganic fertilizers.
In order for plant nutrients in the soil to be available for uptake by plants, the nutrients must be held in the soil without excessive leaching, but must not be held so tightly that the nutrients cannot be released for plant uptake. Thus, nutrient availability requires a balance between holding tightly enough to retain the nutrient in the root zone, without leaching, but not so tight as to make the nutrient unavailable for plant uptake. Thus, the general "condition" or "tilth" of the soil is instrumental in determining the efficiency with which plant nutrients are utilized for plant nutrition.
A properly conditioned soil has advantageous soil chemistry in combination with advantageous soil texture. Thus, in addition to providing specific plant nutrients, soil users also use products that modify basic soil chemistry, and soil texture.
Basic soil chemistry is modified by adding to the soil, for example, calcium products to provide pH control, and flyash or like products to provide pH control as well as micronutrients.
Soil texture is generally modified by adding to the soil organic matter such as manures, sludges, wood and other plant products and by-products, and the like. While such materials have good soil conditioning properties, plant nutrient value of such materials is fixed and is generally so low that other "fertilizer"-type products must in general be used in addition to the organic matter in order to preserve plant nutrient values in the soil.
The primary object of this invention is to provide solid plant seed capsule products that supply both soil conditioning properties and the seed, which can benefit from such conditioned soil, in a given seed capsule particle.
It is a further object to provide a plant nutrient material, in the seed capsule particle, in amount beneficial to the seedling emerging from the seed, and higher than a naturally-occurring amount of such nutrient in such soil conditioning material, so as to have enhanced chemical nutrient qualities over use of the soil conditioning material alone.
In another aspect, a further object is to provide soil conditioning and optionally nutrient qualities to seed products that reach the soil as the result of fulfilling objectives separate from providing soil fertility or soil conditioning.
Still another object is to provide seed capsules containing fertility-enhancing elements having a high level of plant food nutrients in combination with a high level of soil conditioning properties.
Still another object is to encapsulate a seed in a soil conditioning material using materials rich in plant nutrients as part of the encapsulating agent.
Yet another object is to provide a seed product which reduces the tendency for light weight seeds to be washed away by surface water runoff.
Still another object is to provide a seed product which obviates the typical practice of adding straw as a mulch over e.g. grass seed, to protect the seed from being washed away by surface water, from heat of the sun, and to hold moisture in the soil.
A further object is to provide products wherein a single seed capsule product particle provides enhanced soil texture and enhanced soil nutrient value at nutrient levels traditionally needed by newly-germinated seedlings, optionally with higher levels of plant nutrient suitably spaced from the seed itself so as to not be toxic to seedling growth, optionally in combination with time-release technology.
Yet another object is to provide fertility-enhancing seed capsule products having a suitable level of plant food nutrients in combination with a high level of organic matter as soil conditioning material.